Fascinating finds from Nottingham's caves - exhibition

Places of work and play: Fascinating finds from Nottingham's caves

Friday 12 January - Sunday 07 July 2024

Open Thursday-Sunday, 12noon-4pm (closed Monday-Wednesday)

Free admission, University of Nottingham Museum at Lakeside Arts Centre

Nottingham is famous for its hundreds of caves which lie underneath the city’s historic centre, carved into the sandstone rock, some going back to the medieval period.

These remarkable structures were used for a range of functions with archaeological finds discovered within caves, pits and wells that tell us about every aspect of daily life in the medieval and post-medieval city.

This exhibition highlights some of the fascinating cave finds, showing the ways in which caves were used for work – as places for tanning leather, brewing and storing ale, or craft-working – and as places of leisure, with impressive caves found underneath many of the city’s famous pubs, inns and townhouses where people gathered to drink, eat and enjoy themselves.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Chris King and Dr Charlotte May (Department of Classics and Archaeology) and brings together collections from across the city of Nottingham as part of the University’s City of Caves project.